Equal parts life, love & food

Archive for category Baking

I’ve been baking (and now posting!) again. It’s glorious! Between a new baby and a major house remodel this year, my kitchen (and energy levels) were a bit out of sorts. I’m happy to say that my new kitchen is gorgeous and 90% finished. I am busy at work breaking it in!

For some reason last year when my daughter (still sounds strange) was born, it didn’t hit me that her and my hubby’s birthdays are 9 days apart…. This year I fit in a decadent cake for Jason while planning baby A’s big first birthday bash. I have all the juicy details of her party to share, but first the caramel-soaked cake that my not-a-day-over-21 (ha!) cutie requested.

Bam! I sat over a hot flame on my new gas oven preparing not one, but 3 batches of caramel for this bad boy. It was my first time making a french buttercream and it was the highlight of the cake for me. Especially the subtle dark caramel notes and the creamy texture. The cake held up in the fridge for the better part of a week, but the caramel sauce began to crystallize a bit after that. The white cake recipe was pretty good, but I expected it to be more moist with the caramel soaked in. You could easily substitute your favorite white or yellow cake recipe. (while you are at it… share the link in the comments!)

We may have eaten a few slices for breakfast with coffee and then had it for dessert that night too… It was seriously a treat and when I make it again, I’ll share with friends – maybe. Keep in mind that this recipe has a good number of steps and you might use all of your saucepans a few times. You can prepare the cake layers one day and then frost/drizzle on the second day if you are short on time.

Here is the full recipe and instructions if you want to reproduce this tasty treat in your own kitchen. (Trust me you do).

Basic Vanilla Cake

1 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans or line with parchment paper. In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and room temperature butter. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at time and then stir in the vanilla. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add the flour to the butter mixture and then the milk until everything is incorporated. Distribute half the batter into each cake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until your house just starts to smell like cake. Cool.

Caramel Soak

1½ cups white sugar

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

While your cakes are baking, combine the first 5 ingredients into a large heavy bottomed sauce pan. Cook the sugar mixture over medium heat stirring frequently. The mixture will begin to simmer and foam. Continue to stir and cook until a light caramel color is achieved, approximately 7 minutes. Mix together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, baking soda and salt in a medium to large saucepan (a larger saucepan is important, as the mixture will foam up).Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to simmer.As soon as the mixture starts simmering, set the timer for 7 minutes.Continue cooking (it’ll start boiling soon), stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over warm cake layers still in their pans and allow to cool completely.

Burnt Caramel French Buttercream

8 egg yolks

5.25 oz sugar

1/4 c. water

5.75 oz corn syrup

1 lb butter, softened

¾ tsp. smoked sea salt

Allow your ingredients to come to room temperature. Prepare an ice bath large enough for a small sauce pan. Whip egg yolks and salt on medium speed in a stand mixer.While those are whipping, bring corn syrup to a rolling boil in a small sauce pan over medium to medium high heat. Slowly stream the corn syrup into the whipping egg yolks. Increase the mixer speed to high and whip until the syrup egg mixture is light and airy. Heat sugar and 1/4 c. of water in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat until boiling. Cover the pan with a lid. Check on it frequently and when your sugar begins to turn from clear to golden, swirl the pan to encourage it to caramelize evenly. Turn the heat down to medium and allow the sugar to slowly caramelize to a very dark amber. When it begins to slightly smoke, remove the pan from heat and dunk into your ice bath for 10 seconds. (Do that step carefully). Before the caramel hardens too much, stream it into your egg yolk/corn syrup mixture at high speed. Whip until the mixture has completely cooled. Then slowly add in the cubed butter. Mix in salt and beat until uniform and fluffy!

Caramel Drizzle

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. water

3/4 c. heavy cream

3 1/2 tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. smoked salt

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Ramp up the temperature and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, or wipe sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush if crystals begin to form. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Boil for approximately 5 minutes until a deep amber color is achieved. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. (Mixture will bubble and hiss – be careful). Then stir in the butter, vanilla and salt. Allow caramel to cool.

Cake Assembly

To put all the components together, remove your first cake layer from the cake pan (you may need to loosen the edges with a butter knife). Place on a serving dish or cake round. Cover with caramel buttercream on all sides. Place second layer on top and again cover all sides with an even layer of buttercream using a frosting spatula. Use any excess buttercream to pipe decorations or edges onto your frosted cake. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

These double chocolate hazelnut cookies are the perfect pick-me-up! A close friend of mine was having a tough week, so I whipped up a batch and mailed them to her. Apparently more than a few were crushed in transit, but she said they made the perfect topping for ice cream!

If you use the wheat flour, hazelnuts and a high octane dark chocolate, these are super satisfying without making you feel too guilty.

Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

(makes 24)

¼ c. butter, softened

¾ c. dark brown sugar

¼ c. canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. whole wheat flour

½ c. all purpose flour

¼ c. natural cocoa powder (unsweetened)

¼ tsp. salt

⅔ c. dark chocolate, chopped

⅔ c. hazelnuts, chopped & toasted

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gently mix in oil, egg and vanilla until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (thru salt). On medium speed, slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in the dark chocolate pieces.

Use a 1/4 c. scoop to portion out the cookie dough onto a baking sheet. I used a Silpat mat to encourage browning and prevent the dough from sticking. Gently press a teaspoon of the chopped hazelnuts onto the top of each cookie, flattening them out.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until firm but slightly gooey in the center.

Here is what they should look like going into the oven. Feel free to eat them when slightly warm. I had to test them as soon as they were done to make sure they were good enough to share!

When I bake for a special occasion, it’s rare that I try out a completely new recipe. Normally I like to play it a little safe and make something I know is going to turn out. But I was still on the hunt for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe after making several that weren’t chocolatey enough or were too dry. Our friend Jill turned 30 this week and that’s definitely an occasion for chocolate if you ask me (I also hit 30 this year)!

I found a few recipes that use a combo of buttermilk and hot water to infuse moisture into the cake (inspiration here and here). That, along with some new natural cocoa powder were just the ticket to creating a fluffy moist cupcake with a deep chocolate flavor. The homemade vanilla bean buttercream was also a thing of beauty. I’m normally a chocolate-on-chocolate kinda girl, but a quick Facebook poll said most folks prefer vanilla frosting, who knew? I used my favorite buttercream standby and fancied it up with vanilla bean paste.

The most surprising thing about the cake batter is how thin it is when it goes into the pan. I was concerned that we’d end up with chocolate goo, but now I’m pondering ways to use the hot water technique for other cupcake batters because it was THAT good! These aren’t gluten, fat, sugar or guilt free, but they are just the ticket for a big celebration!

Note: You will see a few special ingredients like coffee extract and vanilla bean paste. I provided Amazon links to the products I use, but I like to purchase them at a major discount from Marshall’s or TJ Maxx!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes 36 cupcakes)

3 c. granulated sugar

2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 ¼ c. natural cocoa powder (not dutch process)

2 ¼ tsp. baking powder

2 ¼ tsp. baking soda

1.5 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1 ½ c. buttermilk

¾ c. canola oil

3 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ c. boiling water

2 tsp. coffee extract (optional – I use this brand. Or, substitute water with hot coffee!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 cupcake tins with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

Put water in a small pan over high heat and allow it to begin boiling while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

In a separate bowl or large plastic measuring cup, mix eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and coffee extracts until blended. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Pour the boiling water into the mixture. It will be the texture of melted milkshake, not to worry. Distribute batter into prepared pans, filling each cupcake about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until center bounces back when pressed or a toothpick comes out clean. (Or until your whole house starts to smell like warm chocolate). Cool completely and then frost with your favorite recipe or the one below.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

(generously frosts 36 cupcakes)

1 lb unsalted butter, room temp.

¼ c. shortening (optional – makes it smoother & more heat stable)

3 lb confectioners’ sugar

¼ c. whole milk, room temp.

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. vanilla bean paste (I use this one purchased at Marshall’s for half the price)

pinch of salt

The most important step for this simple recipe to work is to set out all your ingredients and get them to room temperature. If you skip this, the buttercream will curdle=not yummy.

Whip butter on high speed for 5 minutes until smooth. Meanwhile, sift the confectioners’ sugar to remove clumps.

Add the first pound of sugar to the butter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Then add the milk and mix on low speed until combined.

Add second pound of sugar and mix until smooth. Add remaining pound of sugar, shortening, vanilla bean paste, vanilla and salt and mix on low speed.

Whip on high speed for an additional 5 minutes until the icing is white and smooth. If it appears too stiff you can add an additional tablespoon of milk but you want a good thick frosting for piping. Pipe using a Wilton 1 M tip working from outside to inside to get the look above.

Fun fact: I also created the scalloped cupcake liners using coordinating scrapbook papers. I traced out a template that I found online and used my Silhouette cutter to get 36 perfect cupcake wrappers! This is a new tool for me, so if you have any other fun project suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Healthy cookies that taste great….it’s a tough challenge. The key is to balance the ingredients and use just enough of each to give them flavor, without lots of added sugar and carbs.

If it’s not totally obvious, I have a sweet tooth. Deprive me of goodies completely and I’m not a happy girl – especially pregnant. Browsing through my monthly cooking magazines, I came across this recipe for Oatmeal, Cranberry and Flax cookies from King Arthur. I’ve had success with many of their recipes in the past, so I decided to give this one a go.

Of course, I always like to put my own touch on things so I added a handful of shredded coconut and some dark chocolate chips. Can you tell I was afraid it would taste like I tried to make healthy cookies? I also halved the recipe because, well, then I can’t gobble up 3 dozen. Here’s what they looked like going in the oven:

I love that there is just enough butter to help them brown, a hint of sweetness from the cranberries and brown sugar and the oats really hold it all together. The chocolate and coconut gave it just a touch of richness that made you really feel like it was a treat. Actually, the best part of the recipe is that there are basically 2 steps. It couldn’t be simpler!

Cranberry Flax Crunch Cookies

(makes 15 cookies)

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/3 c. light brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. homemade vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)

3/4 c. rolled oats (not instant)

1/3 c. flax meal

3/4 c. dried cranberries

1/4 c. shredded coconut flakes

1/2 c. dark chocolate morsels

Beat first 7 ingredients in a stand mixer until creamy. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into the butter egg mixture.

The only thing that can make great coffee better is an awesome baked good to go alongside it. Jason and I have been huge fans of the caramellato at Octane Coffee in Atlanta since before we moved here. Their main location is walking distance of his office and it’s a fun funky place and these folks have serious brewing skills. Need I say more:

They recently opened a new location (near Grant park) and half of the store is “Little Tart Bake Shop”. One step inside and I fell in love. It’s bright and open, industrial and decorated with common materials but in a chic fun way. Large typography on the wall, huge mirrors-turned-dry erase-menu and lots of coffee alchemy going on. (It inspired us to incorporate more of the industrial look into our house renovation). On our first trip, we ordered several goodies because we couldn’t decide what to try, so many sweet & savory options.

By far our favorite was a golden blueberry buckle. A cross between a blueberry muffin and a scone, it was flecked with huge caramelized blueberries in a fluffy buttery crumb. I’ve been wanting to recreate it at home and I quickly learned that the interpretation of a buckle is widely varied. Some describe it as more of a coffee cake with a streusel on top. Others just a rustic dough baked on parchment into a biscuit shape. I decided to make a very large version of the Little Tart interpretation:

What sold me on this recipe was the addition of peaches or nectarines, a perfect compliment to the blueberries! I nixed the streusel for a wash of milk, sugar and cinnamon that gave the top a beautiful sticky golden covering. I opted to make one large buckle, but you could easily do this in 12 muffin tins for individual portions at a brunch. Enjoy!

Peach Blueberry Buckle

(serves 8-12)

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c.sugar

2 tsp. homemade vanilla

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

1 pint blueberries

1 1/2 c. peaches or nectarines

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Peel and dice the peaches and wash your blueberries. Let both strain to remove excess liquid.

In the meantime, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla.

Combine the dry ingredients and add in 3 increments to the butter mixture, alternating with an egg each time. Don’t overmix.

Pour into a greased 9″ cake pan and smooth with a spatula. Prepare the milk wash with the remaining ingredients. Brush over the pastry until the whole surface is shiny (note: you may not use it all).

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set. Allow to cool and serve to your very lucky breakfast guests!

People ask you also sorts of questions when you are pregnant but the recent favorite is about what I’m craving. I haven’t had too many strange midnight snacks… the weirdest was that I wanted mini marshmallows, uh….frozen. (You should totally try it, hubby liked them too). A close second to that is chocolate and anything with cheese or carbs. I know it sounds like I’m in junk food heaven but I’ve actually been eating tons of leafy greens, lean proteins and fruit for the most part.

Anyway, back to marshmallows. I have been wanting to make them from scratch for a long time, but I had filed them away as one of those difficult recipes that you should only attempt when you have extra patience. To my surprise, they are actually relatively easy if you have the right tools! I came across these cute snowflake shaped ones and thought they would make a perfect topping to Hot Chocolate on a Stick which I first discovered on Pinterest, my new favorite source of inspiration.

We have a recent Christmas tradition of only getting gifts for the kids, so I thought Hot Chocolate on a Stick would be a fun inexpensive surprise for the adults. I wrapped them up in twos in cute gift packaging and printed up some little personalized labels to go along with them! I also put instructions on the back to heat up 8 oz of milk and stir in the stick for almost instant hot chocolate. Aren’t they fun?!

Here is the recipe if you want to make up a batch yourself!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

(makes 48)

Homemade Marshmallows

(makes about 60 snowflakes & extra tidbits)

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2/3 c. water, divided in half

1 1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. light corn syrup

1/8 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract

Cooking spray

1/4 c. confectioners sugar

Line a 9×13 pan with non-stick foil and spray with cooking spray. Add 1/3 c. of cold water to gelatin in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Let soften while making the sugar syrup.

Heat sugar, remaining 1/3 c. water, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to a boil until a candy thermometer reaches 238 degrees.

Whisk the gelatin on low speed and stream in the hot sugar mixture down the side of the bowl (caution: Hot sugar will burn you!) When all the sugar is poured in, raise the speed to high and beat mixture until it has tripled and is white, fluffy and sticky.

Spray a spatula with cooking spray and coax the sticky fluff into your prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to smooth it flat. Sprinkle the top with confectioners sugar and allow to firm up overnight.

You can cut the marshmallows into cubes or use a fun cookie cutter dipped in confectioners sugar to make shapes.

Cocoa Rounds or Blocks

½ c. heavy cream

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips

cooking spray

wooden sticks

Heat the heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk over low to medium heat until just steaming. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips.

Allow to melt thoroughly. You can place it back over low heat if the chocolate is lumpy at all, but mine was very smooth after stirring. Be careful not to overheat it.

Prepare two mini muffin pans, by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Using a small spring loaded icecream scoop, dispense the chocolate into each cup filling each 3/4 of the way full.

Poke each marshmallow long ways with a greased metal skewer or other sharp utensil. Slide the marshmallow 1 inch up the stick and dip into chocolate. Repeat for 48 sticks and then place in the refrigerator to harden. Package up and put a smile on the face of your friends during the colder months of the year!

I learned that you should always make a few extra in case the kids want to enjoy some too….

On Sunday morning I woke up wanting real breakfast, not just some flakes in a bowl. I hunted around the kitchen and found two very over-ripe bananas. Not quite enough to make my favorite banana bread recipe, but a good start.

Taking inspiration from a pumpkin cream cheese muffin I had at Starbucks, I decided to stretch the banana bread batter by creating a cream cheesy filling! I just so happened to have pumpkin seeds on hand too, so why not go all out!

I’m using a “vintage” oven that we inherited with our new house. The appliance guys who delivered our washer & dryer even made fun of it’s two burners and antique look. I thought I would hate it, but now that I’ve cleaned it up and tested that everything works, I actually kinda like her!

You can catch a glimpse of the old girl in this photo of the muffins ready to go in the oven.

I also warmed up some hot apple cider and we snuggled on the couch with our breakfast on a 35 degree morning.

You might have noticed that things are little slow here at The Bake Cakery. OK, a lot slow. While I haven’t been baking goods of the sugary variety, there has been something else baking:

For those that know Jason and I, you might have thought this announcement would never come, but with grad school finished up and 8 solid years of marriage to look back on, we decided it was time!

I have been experiencing the joys of pregnancy: namely nausea, exhaustion, and moodiness. Without an appetite, I haven’t had the desire to bake or even think about new recipes for the past few weeks. Now, with my first trimester about to end, I’m finally starting to feel hungry again. I did have my first peanut butter craving and whipped up a batch of these cookies to celebrate.

According to the What to Expect When You’re Expecting App, Baby Beaird is in the peach stage of the produce journey at 12 weeks and 3 days.

This will be the first grandbaby on my side and he/she will join 4 other sweeties on the Beaird side. Between moving to a new city, buying a fixer upper and deciding to start a family, we know we’ll have our hands (& hearts) full for a good long time… and that’s just the way we like it.

Coming off a couple of insane weeks of travel, Jason and I made the trek from Atlanta to our sleepy hometown of Vero Beach. There were lots of reasons to celebrate – new babies, several birthdays, recent engagement and of course the whole reason we had a long weekend – Independence day!

When a long weekend and your nephew’s first birthday party coincide, you just don’t miss that! In fact, no matter how exhausted you are, you volunteer to make the smash cake ’cause that little man is only turning 1 once. Elmo agrees.

We also volunteered to bring an Elmo fruit platter that was inspired by a photo on Pinterest (sorry, after much googling I still can’t find the original source of the photo). While I was helping Elmo paint a masterpiece, hubs meticulously arranged strawberries, mandarin oranges and blueberries into this:

Awesome job right? My man may let me take over the kitchen most of the time, but he’s got serious skills.

As for the details of the cake, my original goal was to limit the use of food coloring. I also wanted to keep it mostly buttercream (fav recipe here) so little V could smash it easily. Unfortunately I realized it’s almost impossible to achieve that “Elmo red” any other way. By making removable marshmallow fondant decorations, he was able to smash it and get more cake than frosting. See?

He even shared the lemon cream cake (1/2 of this recipe) with mom & dad who noticed the subtle lemon & tried to sneak in a few extra bites :).

I express my love through cake and I hope when this little guy gets older he sees the family pictures of his first birthday and knows there are a lot of people who think he’s pretty cool, crown and all!

Who knew lemon could be better than any chocolate out there? Naysayers, you have to try this lemony combination. A buttery cupcake with flecks of lemon zest, a tart robust lemon curd studded with vanilla bean and then top it all off with a fluffy marshmallowy meringue. Win!

I made these bad boys as a Mother’s Day surprise. Just one problem when it comes to mom & her sweet tooth… she usually has to shy away from desserts due to a chocolate allergy – bummer! We couldn’t have all that on her special day, so I grabbed a bag of lemons and a lot of eggs and got to work on this epically delicious concoction.

Y’all know I’ve been in meringue heaven lately with my Robin Egg Meringues and the Tres Leches Cake with Toasted Meringue I made for Jason’s birthday. I just can’t get enough of the sweet fluffy stuff! Now I like buttercream just as much as the next gal, but this time I saved the butter for the cake batter and the results were fantastic!

The recipe came together from three different ideas I found out there. I had been dying to try this lowfat lemon curd recipe and it was the highlight of the cupcake for me with the addition of vanilla beans. The hardest part is the cramp you get from all that whisking :). I knew I wanted a light flavorful cupcake and any recipe with dairy, be it yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream, immediately gets my vote because all my favs include one of these! Finally, I wanted an airy sticky texture on my marshmallow meringue, so I found one that didn’t include water and it was just the ticket! Cheers!!

Because these all came from different recipes, I scaled and modified each one to get the right proportion of cake to filling to fluff. Here’s my recipe as always with my notes and tips in blue:

Hi my name is Amy and welcome to my blog, The Bake Cakery. This is a diary of sorts about things that make me happy, inspire me or make me laugh. Check out the about page for more info and info below to see what I'm up to.